


Between Two Worlds

by EverShadow



Category: Dragon Age, Mass Effect
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-07-27
Updated: 2012-09-10
Packaged: 2017-11-10 20:00:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,954
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/470099
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EverShadow/pseuds/EverShadow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dragon Age/Mass Effect crossover. When Shepard awakens, she finds herself in a foreign land far away from everything she knew. As she heals, she must team up with the Champion of Kirkwall - who is also searching for someone she lost - to find a way home.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

_ The Reaper bore down on Shepard, its metal parts shrieking and screaming as it neared. Shepard reached for her gun, only to discover that she was only dressed in civilian clothing. Confused, but not shocked, she did the only thing she knew how to do when faced empty handed with a Reaper: run. _

_She took off across the beach, unsure how she got there but not dwelling upon it when her life was at stake. The white, fine sand ate her every step, leaving her jogging rather than sprinting. The Reaper screamed again and took a step. The ground under her shook and sand flew up into her face. _

_"Run, Shepard." The vibratto of Thane's voice came from behind her. She turned to see Thane standing right under the Reaper, calm and unmoving. _

_"Thane! Get out of there!" Shepard yelled. Thane did nothing. She stopped in mid-stride and turned. _

_"You did good, child." She turned again and in the distance she could barely make out Anderson walking towards her. The Reaper's laser blast hit the ground, blasting Shepard into the vast, empty ocean. _

_"Curious." Mordin appeared beside her, staring up at the Reaper. "You would think..." The red eye of Shepard's foe glowed again, zoning in on its target. Thane, Mordin and Anderson gathered in front of Shepard, as if they could shield her from the blast. Shepard tried to stand but the water that soaked her clothes weighed more than it should have and held her down on her hands and knees. _

_"Get away!"_

_  
_

When Shepard awoke, it wasn't in a medical tent or hospital on some far off planet. The first thing she saw was the looming, ominous color of a Reaper ship and the red glow of its eye. Panic welled in her chest until she realized that it was only the sky and the blood red moon. She scanned the environment with her eyes and and found nothing she recognized; there were no destroyed buildings, ravaged streets, or distant tower silhouetted against the night sky. Instead of concrete, she saw tall trees. Instead of roads she saw never ending sand surrounding the small oasis. She looked down at herself. She could barely move with all the bandages binding her wounds - not that she wanted to anyway. Just beyond her toes, so close that a spark could jump and set her ablaze, was a small fire.

"You're awake?" A strong female voice, one Shepard did not recognize, asked.

"Barely." Her voice was shot to hell and she gasped it just over the crackles of the wood burning.

"Good." From behind the fire, a woman stood up. She wore light grey metal armor, archaic by the look and what looked like a real fur collar. A sword hung at her hip and Shepard wondered what strange convention this woman had wandered out of. As she stepped closer, Shepard noticed the short cropped hair and the red, primitive paint that ran from one side of her face, across the bridge of her nose, to the other.

"I found you crushed under some giant boulders off in the distance. Thought you were dead, until you breathed. You're lucky to be alive. You are?" The woman asked, her metal boots clanging loudly against the scattered debris. Shepard hesitated in answering. She was not one to trust strangers, especially ones dressed so strangely. But, she reason, there was no harm in giving a name.

"Shepard, Commander Shepard of the ship Normandy. And you?" Shepard replied, finding her voice.   
The woman said nothing. She bent over and checked Shepard's bandages. Has she no first name? Or does she not trust me enough? Shepard mused. Satisfied with what she saw, she sat down next to the beaten and bruised Commander.

"Hawke." She replied simply. "You're not from around here, are you?"

"No...where am I? Is this Earth?" Shepard's breath cut short. Speaking hurt her chest. It looked like she had wound up in the Sahara or something.

"Earth?" Hawke asked. "This is Ferelden." Shepard had never heard of any place named Ferelden and she had travelled to the far reaches of their galaxy. Just exactly where was she? Hawke seemed human, so it had to be a planet that humans colonized. Fatigue and pain overtook her thought process and she let out a tired sigh. The oddly dressed woman noticed and adjusted the blanket shielding Shepard from the cold.

"Sleep." She ordered though Shepard needed no encouragement. "You need it. I will answer your questions later and perhaps your presence will answer a few of mine. I will watch for any dark spawn." Dark spawn...Shepard thought wearily. That doesn't sound good.  
  
_____________________________________________

 

Liara jolted from her sleep when the alarm sounded. She instinctively grabbed at the pistol under her pillow and stood up. Groggily, she looked around, wondering where she was. She had been dreaming again of Shepard. This time they were on her home world, Thessia. Shepard was taking care of their three kids, running around with them while Liara was buried happily by history books.

"EDI, where is the intruder?" She asked. The words barely left her mouth before she realized just how stupid it was. EDI was gone. Shepard was gone. So many of their friends were gone. She quickly glanced at the console and noticed the bright red dot shining in the room above them.

Shepard's room. She thought to herself. The elevator had been out of commission for a while, so she headed towards the secret ladder that led right up to a trap door in Shepard's closet. It was meant for escape, in case the elevators didn't operate but now it served as Liara's only way into Shepard's room where she could spend some time surrounded by everything that reminded her of what she'd lost. She quietly crept up the ladder and lifted the heavy metal door. Her heart was beating hard. What sort of creature would they encounter on this wild, jungle planet? Could it be a native? A wandering creature? 

She lifted the metal plate an inch and peered out. She saw boots. So it was a sentient being. The material was old, faded, and it looked like the skin of some animal. Primitive garb. She lifted the door another inch to see long legs...human legs...tan and toned.  A human? Here? Liara thought in wonder. She lifted the plate all the way. It was a human female. She carried two swords on her back and by the looks, had no other, more modern accessories. Her blue bandanna kept her long black hair in check. She reminded Liara of human pirate she'd read about in her studies of Earth.

What is she? Liara wondered. She kept her gun trained on the blue bandanna.

"Hands up and turn around slowly." Liara ordered.

"Look at all of this! I've never seen anything like it. All of this must cost a fortune!" The woman marveled, not bothered by Liara's sudden appearance. In fact, it was almost as if she anticipated it.

"Turn around!" Liara yelled. The human turned around. Her dark eyes scanned Liara up and down...and not necessarily in the way one sizes up an opponent.

"I don't know what you even are and I know I'm beat." The woman said, amused. Her voice was heavily accented in no way she had ever heard from a human before.

"Who are you, and what are you doing here?" Liara demanded, not lowering her gun. The human took a step away from her and sat down on Shepard's bed. Liara bristled, wanting to shoot her right then and there for doing that.  Get off of her bed.

"Answer me, what are you doing here?!" Liara repeated, thrusting the gun forward as a threat. The woman smirked and crossed her legs.

"I'm searching for lost treasure."

"You won't find credits or rare minerals here." Liara said, thoroughly annoyed her attitude. The woman laughed and leaned back as though she owned the place. 

"You misunderstand. You see, my treasure isn't a thing, it's a person. I seem to have lost her, and she's very precious to me."


	2. Chapter 2

Shepard awoke to the sound of fire hissing as it died. She heard a low growl and two dark, shining eyes appeared in front of her. She let out a yell and tried to move but it only caused great pain in her chest and legs and she stopped.

"Shh!" Hawke hissed as she kicked dirt over the dead fire. The two eyes emerged from the shadow, revealing itself to be a large, bear-like dog.

"What is that?!" Shepard demanded.

"Shh!" Hawke cautioned again. She crouched behind a tree and peered into the darkness. Shepard turned her head and did so as well. It was hard to see in the pitch black. Shepard had grown accustomed to artificial light, either from the environment or her flashlight. In this world, however, there was no such thing. The sand glowed dimly in the moonlight and she could make out several shapes, perhaps a dozen or so, shifting along the dunes towards them. The figures were large and they lumbered menacingly. Whatever they were, they sent a chill down Shepard's spine. They were not friends.

"They might have seen the fire." Hawke whispered. "If we're lucky, they didn't." For a good, tense 15 minutes the three of them waited. Shepard felt adrenaline kicking in and she wished she had enough strength to at least fire a gun. Hawke had her sword drawn and the bear-dog hid in the shadows, ready to attack. The figures did not change their course and for a moment, it looked like conflict was necessary. Shepard knstinctively tensed and Hawke's grip on her sword tightened. Dog let out a low growl that threatened to givw them away. Then figures turned east as they reached the edge of the oasis and marched that way until they disappeared over the next dune. All three of them relaxed but Hawke did not move to rekindle the fire.

"What was that?" Shepard demanded, now fully awake.

"Darkspawn, certainly you've seen them where you're from?" Hawke replied.

"I've seen a lot in my day, but nothing like that." Shepard replied. The closest thing she could think of was the reapers, but they usually glowed with synthetic parts. Hawke eyed her strangely.

"Your home was not affected by the Blight?"

"Reapers, maybe, but I've never heard anything called the Blight." She repeated. The two were equally baffled by the other's response. The bear-dog walked over to Shepard and sniffed at her feet. It whined curiously and then smelled Shepard's face. Shepard could not help but stare at the strong jaws and muscled chest of the creature. She was just about to ask if it was dangerous when it opened its mouth to reveal long, sharp canines and gave her a big lick across the face. Shepard sputtered and yelped while her companion laughed heartily.

"If Dog trusts you, then I see no reason for me not to." The short haired warrior said.

"What kind of dog is this?" Shepard said, raising her arm to wipe the dog drool off her cheek.

"You've never seen a mabari hound?" Hawke asked in disbelief. "Where do you come from that you've never seen darkspawn nor mabari hounds?"

"Earth." The commander replied. "In the Sol system?" Her words were met by a blank stare.

"Is that across the sea?" Hawke tried. Shepard had met her fair share of primitive species, but to meet a human like this...it was as of she had grown up in the wild with not even the most basic of technology. It struck Shepard as highly unlikely. She spoke as if it was common knowledge that those fearful creatures were called "darkspawn". Perhaps the whole planet was stuck in a primitive era but she hoped not. Either way, this warrior woman was not going to have the answers she needed. The sooner she healed, the sooner she could scout the area for someone or something that would get her back to Earth.

"If Anders were here, he would patch you up in no time." Hawke sighed, resting back against a rock. Shepard tried to shift into a more comfortable position, but it hurt even to take in air for the effort.

"So what were you doing in the middle of the desert trapped under boulders like I've never seen before?" Hawke asked. Dog settled down with his head in her lap and his stub of a tail wagged slowly. Shepard didn't know how to respond because she had no idea either. And the explanation leading up to it was no more plausible to her companion than her companion's explanation from before.

"I was fighting a war." Shepard said. “But it was far from here. I don’t know how I got here.” Dog yawned, as if the story bored him with its lack of detail but Hawke understood that the Commander wanted to keep certain things private. She certainly did not want people knowing who she was, or her part in the uprising at Kirkwall. It was a life she meant to escape and she had been well on her way when...

“And you?” Shepard lifted her head a little to look at the former Champion. “What brings you to a God forsaken desert?” Hawke chuckled at the memory.

“I was shipwrecked.” She answered simply. “Well, my ship ran aground. Well, not my ship I suppose.” She struggled trying to tell the story with as little detail as necessary. Shepard, meanwhile, carried some hope that when Hawke said “ship”, she meant one that wasn’t strickly water-bound. But she did not carry too much faith judging by everything else around her. “My captain disappeared off the boat one night. I can’t man a ship myself, so I had to look for the nearest strip of land. Unluckily for me, that meant this empty wasteland.”

“How long have you been here?” Shepard asked, a little afraid of the answer. Hawke smiled as though the answer amused her.

“Too long. There isn’t much beyond desert. I already walked the perimeter of the island. Apart from darkspawn, there’s hardly any life here. I’ve managed to find enough game for now, but I can’t stay here forever. And with you being another mouth to feed...” She trailed off. She grabbed a small leather pouch and drank from it. She offered it to Shepard, who shook her head. “The point is you need to get better quickly. I need you to help me get off this island and you need me to keep you alive for now. I say we have a partnership of circumstance.” Shepard managed to keep her laughter inside but she grinned.

“I don’t have much of a choice.” She replied. “Partners it is.”


	3. Chapter 3

Liara set her gun down after what felt like an hour of asking questions the woman either could not answer or answered strangely. She had never heard of "Ferelden" or "Kirkwall". They were all new terms and places.

"I have spent a lot of my life studying different races and planets and I can't say I believe what you say. I've never heard of 'darkspawn' or 'Qunari.'" Liara said. Yet she saw no reason for Isabela to lie. Her mind tried to grasp the idea that she did not know as much as she thought she did.

"Well I've never seen anything like you or this...this house." Isabela said, looking at her surroundings.

"This isn't a house. It's a ship. Granted not a functional one at the moment but it is a ship." Isabela's eyes bulged out and she burst into laughter.

"A ship? How can this be a ship? It is made mostly of metal, there are no sails. It isn't even on water!" Isabela demanded. It took a moment for Liara to understand. Even when she realized what the human was saying, she could not believe it.

"You've never seen a ship before?"

"I've seen plenty of ships, but if you tried to sail this one I doubt you'll get very far." Isabela chuckled to herself. "You've spent too much time on land, haven't you?" Liara stared at the woman dumbfounded. She wondered if Isabela was part of an old colony that settled here a long time ago and simply had no outside contact for generations. But that made no sense since Isabela seemed to have no idea where she was.

"I'm not quite sure I understand what you've been saying. Please, start from the beginning." Liara said. Isabela reclined against the bed but Liara was far too fascinated by the strange human to remember that she was on the bed that Shepard once occupied. Isabela sighed.

"Well...."  
  
 _Hawke threw the last of the grain into the ship's storage and clapped her hands together, brushing the dust off. Isabela peered down below deck and grinned._  
 _"About time you're done." She said, walking down the steps. Hawke flashed her a fake glare._

_"Would've gone faster if I had help." She snapped. Isabela sauntered over to Hawke and looped her arms around her neck, kissing her exposed collarbone. Hawke's hands found her supple curves and gently kneaded them, growling with lust._

_"I'm the captain." Isabela purred, tugging at Hawke's sweat soaked white work shirt. "Besides I like it when you are completely out of breath and drenched. For different reasons of course." Hawke lifted her by her thighs and slammed her against the sacks of grain, encompassing her lips with her own._

_"Captain we are ready to sail!" A voice from above shouted. Isabela let out an angry snarl and glared at the steps to where an oblivious boy stood waiting for them._  
 _"I swear he will be the first one I throw off the side of the ship when we are out to sea." She hissed. Hawke laughed and kissed her neck._

_"We will have plenty of time for this later. We should leave before they realize we've stolen half our cargo. We need him, he is our main navigator." She reassured. Isabela huffed in disappointment. Hawke let her down slowly and she untangled herself from the Champion._

_"Fine. But if he disturbs us for any other reason when we're out at sea and I swear he'll be our new anchor."_

_"I will personally help you tie him to the chain if he does." Hawke promised._  
  
 _It turned out that neither of them needed to tie him to an anchor. The navigator, a tall, skinny, freckled stick of a boy was bedridden for much of the journey, throwing up and moaning as though he was going to die. Isabela rolled her eyes every time he ran for the side of the ship to empty the contents of his stomach._

_"I should have known. No true navigator has skin as white as his." She groaned. Hawke wrapped her arms around Isabela and kissed the back of her head. A strong gust of wind rattled the sails, making a sharp cracking noise and both of them looked up. The crew froze as the wind picked up, making the ship creak unnaturally._

_"What in..." Isabela started but a loud clap of thunder deafened her and cut her words short. The sky above them instantly blackened and lightning broke through the clouds, striking the water just in front of the ship. Isabela tore herself from Hawke's grasp._

_"Get those sails down now!" She screamed as her crew leaped into action. Hawke's short hair whipped violently in the sudden storm. She froze in place and looked up at the sky. A red light pulsed behind the clouds and Hawke thought it was the sun for a moment before realizing that the sun was nowhere near the storm._

_"Nothing about this is natural." Isabela said, staring up at the same thing. "I've seen white lightning, but red?" She had no time to ponder the phenomenon when the ship lurched forward, knocking everyone off their feet. Isabela looked up just in time to see one of her crew fall overboard._

_"Everyone grab hold of - " Then the ship lurched again. The clouds ahead opened up, revealing a large, swirling red vortex. Isabela watched in disbelief as the aft came off of the water, as though the vortex was sucking it in. She desperately towards Hawke to grab hold of her and the nearest grounded object. But it did not matter. Barrels, crates, and anything that wasn't attached to the ship flew upward into the sky in seconds, including the stunned men in the ship._

_"Hawke!" She yelled. Her crew members one by one disappeared screaming into the red storm. She felt herself lift up from the deck. Hawke jumped towards her just as her feet came off the ground. Isabela reached out her hand and just when they were about to make it, Hawke's leg caught in extra rope stemming from the mast, pulling her sharply back._  
 _"Hawke!" Isabela screamed as she too vanished into the sky._  
  
"Next thing I knew, I was stuck in a tree with a few scratches but nothing serious. I had no idea where I was or what happened, frankly I thought it had been a trick of the dark spawn." Liara listened intently. She tried to match logic with Isabela's story.

"When the Reapers were destroyed across the galaxy, so were the relays. Is it possible that their destruction could have effects beyond what we thought?" She wondered aloud. Isabela leaned back against the headboard.

"I haven't a clue what you're babbling about." She said. “I just want to get back to my ship, get back to my woman, and get on with my life.” Isabela glanced at the ground.

Actually, just getting  back to my woman would be fine with me.” Liara looked at her forlorn expression and in it she found similarities. She felt a resonating ache within her chest. Asari were not supposed to dwell on loved ones past, but none of them had ever loved Shepard.

“You must have loved her very much.” Liara commented. Isabela smirked and shook her head. Her hands instinctively touched the pearl amulet around her neck. It was warm against her fingers and she let out a sigh.

“You have no idea.”  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
The destruction and ruin went on for miles. Captain Enson surveyed the damage and in his head calculated the amount of effort and time it would take to rebuild everything. Even with the galaxy united, it would take decades to undo the damage from the Reaper’s attack.

“Captain Enson of the fifth fleet?” A tall, speckled red-head approached him, climbing over rubble mounds to reach his vantage point. The captain nodded. His eye caught the single stripe attached to the man’s shoulder. The man saluted. “Private Stakes of the ninth, sir.”

“Here to report the crucible damage?” He asked. “Where did it land?” The messenger shifted in place uncomfortably and the Captain narrowed his eyes. “Well? It can’t have landed very far. We need to know what happened in there.”

“Sir.” The ginger-haired private. “Sir, we can’t find it.”

“Can’t find it?” Captain Enson balked. “It’s not in bloody space, so it has to be on Earth!”

“That’s just it, sir.” Stakes said. “It’s not coming up on any of the radars and we had three ships run full planet scans. It’s like it just disappeared.”

“Well check your equipment and do it again. And report to your general before you come here.” Stakes saluted and scurried off to deliver the news of a rescan. Enson rubbed his head in pain. The crucible, had to be there. It wasn’t like it just vanished into thin air after all.


End file.
